lieutenant wills reporting to major arnold. sir.
i'm very sorry.
david. david wills. i'm your liaison officer with the allied kommandatura cultural affairs committee. sir.
i guess so, sir.
was born here, in leipzig. i escaped in '36. my parents, they sent me to my uncle in philadelphia. they were to follow. but they delayed and.
our family name was weill. but that doesn't sound well in english. my uncle changed it to wills and.
some.
and what about the nuremberg rally?
i guess it's possible.
colonel dymshitz asked specially to see you.
they're trying to sort out some of the works of art the nazis stole from occupied territories. who really owns what? that's colonel dymshitz, on the far side.
i clicked my heels, saluted and bowed at the same time.
that's right. i was raised very strictly. so don't speak before you are spoken to!
respect your elders and your betters!
eating is eating.  and.
right. so, this is going to be very formal, too, now. lieutenant david wills requests die pleasure of die company of fraulein emmi straube at dinner any night she cares.
yes.
the british occupy the building where this guy, hinkel, ran the nazi ministry of culture and it seems they've.  they've discovered his secret archive.
i don't know, but the british are excited about it, i know that. the rumour is hinkel kept a file on every artist working in the third reich.
major richards said he'd call to let us know.
five minutes.
yes. what was the orchestra's reaction when they asked you to play for hitler's birthday?
why was that? why did you resign, dr. furtwngler?
david wills. yes, sir. well, you want me to tell him? okay, major richards wants a word with you, sir.
dr. furtwngler! dr. furtwngler! please, please.  don't. it's not advisable.
when i was a child, my father, he took me to.  he took me to one of your concerts. i remember you conducted beethoven's fifth symphony. i was deeply moved. and i've loved music ever since. i was grateful to you. and i've admired you. how could you.  how could you serve those criminals?
david wills.
schubert.
i don't know.
i'm very sorry, major, but i promised her mother, we have to go.
but i promised your mother.
david. wills. hello? who? who in wiesbaden?
on all what?
i don't know.
major arnold believes he has a moral duty, too.
yeah, of course.
we need names, if possible with addresses, because it's urgent. names of musicians saved by dr. furtwngler, people he helped to escape abroad. let's go somewhere public.
yesterday i read that furtwngler was asked to lead the new york philharmonic back in '36, toscanini suggested it. had he accepted, he would have become the most celebrated conductor in america.
when he met hitler at his birthday and shook hands with him, was he pleased?
why not show dr. furtwngler the evidence. it may refresh his memory?
major, i don't see how this line of questioning could.
major, this is deeply offensive and repugnant!
and totally irrelevant.
major, that's not a good argument. if dr. furtwngler did indeed enjoy all these.  these privileges, he enjoyed them because of who he is and what he is. that's true of any leading artist in any country in the world.
major.
your manner.
can i ask you a favour, major?
when you question him again, could you treat him with more respect?
major, he may just be the greatest conductor of this century and that merits respect.
yes, i'm a jew. but i like to think first i'm a human being.
major, show me someone who hasn't made an anti-semitic remark and i'll show you the gates of paradise.
i want you to come back to the office. may i come in? if you are there you can influence what happens. what good can you do by leaving. if you go, you are giving up and how can you help furtwngler or me? don't think about leaving. stay.
major, sorry to interrupt, but maybe we have to.  maybe we have to balance those things against his assistance to his jewish colleagues.
this is a transcript of the proceedings at nuremberg. a swedish businessman, birger dahlerus, testified in cross- examination that he had several meetings with hermann goering. 'i first saw goering,' dahlerus testified, 'embroiled in a stormy interview with wilhelm furtwngler, the famous conductor of the berlin philharmonic, who was vainly seeking permission to keep his jewish concert master.
emmi, pick one of these, any one, read it out loud.
and this, only one of these letters, major. i have lots of them.